There is this general believe that Nigerian senators are the highest paid in the world and that as a matter of fact, their pockets are enriched greatly every month. But how true can this be? Do you want to find out the salary of Nigerian Senators? Perfect! You are in the right place as I am going to give you a breakdown of all that a senator in Nigeria earns, these include their allowances, salary, and other benefits they enjoy by their position.
There are several agitations everywhere that what the Nigerian senators are earning is too much, a lot more agitation centres on the allowances paid to them. In 2018, Senator Sheu Sani, the representative of Kaduna District of the National Assembly declared that each senator earns a running cost of about ₦13.5 million per month. He further stated that this huge some are paid in addition to a total of over ₦750,000 consolidated monthly allowances and salary.
Now let us take a look at the breakdown of the Salary of Nigerian Senators and all the benefits stated above. Find out how much a senator takes home.
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How much the Nigerian Senators earn yearly
The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission is a body created pursuant to section 32 (d) of Part 1 of the 3rd Schedule to the CFRN for the purpose of determining the remuneration of political office holders. In essence, the salaries of senators are paid by the RMAFC.
A single Nigerian senator collects a basic annual salary of ₦2,026,400 and a cumulative of allowances that amount to ₦9,525,985.50. You can divide that by 12 to get how much they earn per month. In other words, when you combine these figures, you will get a total of ₦12,902,360, which is what just one senator earns in a year.
Now let us do another calculation, we have 109 senators in Nigeria, what do you think the figures will be when you multiply the total amount of the salary of a single senator by 109? This is a total of ₦1,406,357,240 out of the Nigerian budget for every four-year term of all the senators. Serious right?
Now we are just blaming them for amassing so much wealth to themselves alone, why will this not be when we have given them so much power? By virtue of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the legislature is charged with a mandate of making laws for the federation, and it is whatever policy they pass that stands. There is also a Yoruba adage that states that “even if you give a mad man a hoe, he is going to pack the sand to his side,” in other words when you give manpower, he will surely wield it in a manner that favours him more than others.
Breakdown of Nigerian Senator’s Annual Take-Home
From the foregoing, you already have an idea about what a senator takes home every year, but how did we come about this total figures? The following includes a breakdown of the allowances and benefits accruing to a Nigerian Senator:
Wardrobe Allowance
As you already know, a senator is a popular figure in public, and they must appear presentable in public. Therefore, they are paid some benefits in that regard.
Vehicle Maintenance and Fueling Allowances
This fosters a smooth running of the activities of senators. Although I doubt if this allowance was envisaged to cover personal travels of senators and their personal vehicles.
Domestic Staff and Personal Assistant Allowances
Senators need servants to take care of their schedules and domestic activities such as washing of cars, pruning of the garden in their home, keeping his office clean and tidy, etc. This is why they have been given special consideration in the country’s revenue as regards the payment of their secretaries, domestic servants, and other persons that makes their works smooth.
Estacode Allowance
This allowance covers all the travel cost of senators during the course of their duty.
Constituency Allowance
The constituency allowance amounts to about #200 million which is meant to be used for public projects within the constituency of each senator. It has, however, been noted over time that this money is usually treated as belong personally to the senator. Senator Sheu Sani, in fact, complained that “The constituency project itself is given on a zonal basis and almost every Senator will go with a constituency fund of about #200 million, but it is not the cash that is given to you (senators).
Duty Tour
Apart from the Estacode allowance, the senators are also paid a duty tour allowance which covers expenses of senators whenever they go out on official tours.
House Maintenance and Newspaper/periodic Allowance
Although we also have Utility allowance for them, senators still get paid for basic home furniture and newspaper deliveries. They need to be informed about the general happenings in the country though.
Retirement Benefits
As “vampires” to the state, this is another avenue that allows Nigerian senators to “suck” greatly from the countries “blood.” In other words, the severance allowance, vehicle loans, accommodation, and other retirement benefits of senators take away up to #24,000,000 from the federal government revenue after every four years.
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Conclusion
That is the breakdown of the Salary of Nigerian Senators and the benefits they enjoy.
The truth be told, the Nigerian Senators are collecting way too much pay for the kind of services that they render. This is why you will see so many of them with pot bellies and luxury properties. Don’t get me wrong, it is not wrong to have all these things, but the general interest of the nation should be had in mind whenever any public policy is to be made.
Just as Senator Sheu said, I do not think it is part of the duties of a legislature to take care of social amenities provisions, it is in fact, the duty of a senator to make laws and not to execute them. In the same vein, allowances such as the constituency allowance should be scrapped and their salaries slashed into two at least. This will, in turn, reduce the usually bloody fight amidst candidates for this juicy position of authority.
As a matter of fact, many people have argued that we really don’t need the senate. I tend to agree with people in this school of thought because there is nothing the senators are doing that the House of Representatives cannot do. Well, there you have it, the Salary of Nigerian Senators.
